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8th September 2009 Archive

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  • IT shops rank servers on downtime

    IBM Power: good. Windows: not so much

    Server vendors make a lot of noise about how reliable their systems are, but how do they really stack up? It's hard to say. Getting qualitative information out of vendors is easy enough - they all seem to have the most reliable machines ever built - but what about some objective quantitative information that puts these claims …

    Servers 8 Sep 03:08

  • Intel's nine-piece Lynnfield band takes the stage

    Two Core i7s, a Core i5, and six Xeons

    Intel released nine of its long-anticipated 'Lynnfield' microprocessors on Tuesday - two Core i7s, one Core i5, and six Xeons - with one nifty surprise at the low end of that server and workstation line. Back before the Meltdown changed Chipzilla's product timelines, the Nehalem-based Lynnfields were expected to launch in the …

    PCs & Chips 8 Sep 04:02

  • T-Mobile picks Orange for merger

    They come over here, run our mobile networks...

    T-Mobile and Orange are merging their UK operations to create the largest operator in the UK, with ownership split between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom. The companies reckon that by merging the networks they can save €4bn running a new operation owned 50:50 by the current parents. That new operation will be the UK's …

    Mobile 8 Sep 07:36

  • Russia drops XP investigation

    Microsoft still faces laptop probe

    The Russian competition regulator has dropped an investigation into Microsoft's decision to stop sales of XP in favour of Windows Vista. The Federal Antimonopoly Service began the probe in June. It accused Microsoft of stopping XP sales to to retailers and OEMs (Original Equipment Makers), even though there was continued …

    Channel Register 8 Sep 08:03

  • Custard Creams can kill: Official

    Jaffa Cakes relatively harmless, survey reveals

    A disturbing probe into the potential for apparently innocent biscuits' ability to do harm has revealed that an astounding 25 million Brits have been injured while indulging in some light coffee/tea break snack action, with 500 victims requiring hospital treatment. That's according to research outfit Mindlab International, …

    Bootnotes 8 Sep 09:10

  • The Reg Strategy Boutique takes on Virtualization

    Webcast On Demand for you

    The recorded version of our recent Virtualization webcast is ready for your consumption. This beamed live last week from the sumptuous international studios of El Reg. But, knowing how hard you all work, we thought we’d record it and let you watch it at your leisure. You can click here to get stuck in this free to air webcast …

    Virtualization 8 Sep 09:33

  • CRB checks can take years to complete

    Come on, while we're young!

    The Criminal Records Bureau has revealed that the longest 'enhanced disclosure' checks take more than four years to complete. David Hanson, the minister for crime and policing, said in a parliamentary written answer to Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake that although the majority of applications for checks on individuals against …

    Policing 8 Sep 09:41

  • HDS primes BluArc Mercury launch

    Splashes down into storage midrange

    Hitachi Data Systems is announcing two new network-attached storage (NAS) products, bringing its enterprise NAS capabilities down to the midrange. The NAS 3080 and 3090 are based on the Mercury NAS products announced by BlueArc in July. The BlueArc/HDS idea is to make the enterprise 3100/3200 NAS products affordable to the mid …

    Storage 8 Sep 09:47

  • Army's £114m battle-comms net not up to Afghan demands

    Updated Israeli off-the-shelf replacements rushed in

    British forces deployed in Afghanistan have been forced to beef up a hundred-million-pound military communications network using commercial equipment ordered from Israel. The Cormorant system, ordered to replace the various legacy and ad-hoc off the shelf comms systems formerly used by the UK's rapid-deployment forces, was …

    Networks 8 Sep 09:49

  • Japanese CE firms partner on 'standard' CPU project

    Intel basher?

    Seven Japanese consumer electronics companies and chip makers are to launch their own CPU. The unnamed part is still a few years away: according to reports, it'll be out by the end of the partners' 2012 financial - not the same thing as calendar 2012, so probably April 2013 at the earliest. Co-funded by the Japanese …

    Reg Hardware 8 Sep 09:55

  • Discovery bids adios to ISS

    Undocking today, returns home Thursday

    Space shuttle Discovery is preparing to undock later today from the International Space Station following the successful completion of mission STS-128. The decoupling is due to take place at 19:26 GMT. Discovery will return to Earth on Thursday carrying the Leonardo Multi-purpose Logistics Module and departing Expedition 20 …

    Space 8 Sep 10:00

  • HTC inks in Android-based Tattoo

    Nice, but we'd rather have Audrey...

    Some people eventually regret tattoos as they age, but HTC has designed an Android-based smartphone that it hopes you’ll always want about your person. Aspects of HTC's Tattoo can be personalised Called Tattoo, the smartphone will supposedly deliver “broad personalisation to the masses”, HTC claimed, by allowing users to …

    Reg Hardware 8 Sep 10:06

  • UK.biz lax on web app security

    SQL injection problems getting worse

    Web application security among UK corporates is getting worse, according to audits carried out by CESG-accredited security consultancy NTA Monitor. NTA Monitor reports a ten percentage point increase in the total number of web applications found to have at least one high-risk security issue. A quarter (27 per cent) of all web …

    Enterprise Security 8 Sep 10:21

  • Louis Vuitton stings ISPs for their customers' infringements

    Handbags at dawn

    Two web hosting companies have been ordered to pay $32 million in damages after failing to convince a US jury that they were immune from responsibility for their users' actions. Luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton brought a case against two Californian internet service providers (ISPs) run by Steven Chen, alleging that they were …

    Law 8 Sep 10:22

  • Foxconn working on 'sub-£100' ARM-based Linux netbooks

    True Small, Cheap Computers at last?

    Will ARM-based netbooks retail for under £100? The Taiwanese contract manufacturer behind the Foxconn brand seems to think so. A Hon Hai Precision staffer - one Young Liu, special assistant to the company's CEO - admitted this week that "we have a few smartbook projects and I think there is demand for these sub-$200 devices …

    Reg Hardware 8 Sep 10:24

  • T-Orange: How it's going to work

    Telcos to slash and burn ahead of 2012 hook-up?

    The T-Mobile and Orange brands will survive for at least the next two years in the UK as the telcos combine their operations here - though their employees might not. The merged operation of Orange and T-Mobile is expected to save €445m in operational expenditure annually, a saving that will come from shutting shops, …

    Mobile 8 Sep 10:31

  • Multi-gadget recharger launched

    Alternative to wireless recharging?

    Wireless charging mats may soon become the norm, according to the likes of Duracell. However, one firm has launched an alternative system for simultaneously recharging gadgets that still does away with the need for multiple cables. Idapt's power socket tips can be swapped out to suit different gadgets The Idapt unit is …

    Reg Hardware 8 Sep 10:32

  • AOL parachutes former Yahoo! exec into web and mobile unit

    Peanut Butter Manifesto author joins fading internet starlet

    AOL has hired ex-Yahooer! Brad Garlinghouse as president of its web and mobile communications division. Garlinghouse left Yahoo! in August 2008, where he held a very similar role. More recently he has worked as an advisor at venture capital outfit Silver Lake Partners, which just last week was one of the investors behind the …

    Financial News 8 Sep 11:17

  • Why teachers fear Callum, Chelsea, Connor and Crystal

    School register of mischief

    As teachers eye the register on the first day back at school this September, they'll be nervously keeping a sharp look-out for certain names which "strike fear into the nation's tutors". The list of those likely to make mischief includes young 'uns dubbed Aliesha, Brooke, Brooklyn, Casey, Chelsea, Connor, Crystal, Demi, Jack, …

    Bootnotes 8 Sep 11:19

  • Job prospects still tough, but glimmers of hope in UK

    Young people getting the worst of it

    Worldwide job prospects are showing some signs of improvement, or at least they are getting worse more slowly, while in the UK there are signs of improved prospects in financial and business services. Starting with the UK, a survey of 2,100 businesses found a net employment outlook of -2 per cent, compared to -6 per cent in …

    Small Biz 8 Sep 11:45

  • A day in the life of an email manager

    White papers Not waving but drowning

    And so to the Reg Library for our occasional plunder of the Whitepaper shelves. Today we are diving into the perennially popular topics of email management and security and have selected three vendor papers for your perusal. Registration is, as per, required. Email continuity. You don't know what you've got til it's gone This …

    Small Biz 8 Sep 11:57

  • IWF chief: We don't need crusaders

    Interview El Reg speaks to URL-blocker boss Peter Robbins

    Peter Robbins, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) comes across as a genial politician – and a through-and-through pragmatist. He is in no way the moralising, censorious villain that some of the internet’s more Libertarian anti-censorship lobby would make him out to be. For all the bonhomie, there is a …

    Policing 8 Sep 12:00

  • D-Link DHP-303

    Review 200Mb/s powerline Ethernet kit

    Despite an early charge, powerline networking has suffered something of a stall over the past few years. The stuff is still shifting off the shelves, but we haven't seen much in the way of improvements in the technology. D-Link's DHP-303: no change over the years but the model number? Back in 2007, we were graced with 200Mb …

    Reg Hardware 8 Sep 12:02

  • Lawsuit seeks to tag WGA nagware as spyware

    Rebranding from bother to beast

    A US lawsuit has alleged that Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), Microsoft's controversial anti-piracy software, is little better than spyware. A lawsuit (which seeks class-action status) filed in Washington district court last week also cries foul over false advertising as well as allegations of privacy law violations, …

    Operating Systems 8 Sep 12:43

  • Firefox 4.0 developers granted year of living dangerously

    Major version of browser to land in late 2010

    Mozilla won't release the next significant upgrade of Firefox until the final quarter of 2010. The open source browser maker said it expects to release Firefox 4.0 in October or November of next year. Of course before that versions 3.6 and 3.7 will be squirted out by the team, assuming that Mozilla doesn't hit similar …

    Applications 8 Sep 12:48

  • Amazon and Apple stunting UK e-book market

    Lack of models forcing readers to Sony?

    Amazon and Apple are missing e-book viewer sales opportunities in the UK, a pollster has claimed. Earlier this year, YouGov questioned 784 UK-based people it believes are potential e-book buyers. Some 65 per cent said that a Sony-made e-book viewers would likely fulfill their electronic reading requirements. But respondents …

    Reg Hardware 8 Sep 13:03

  • India's Reva to pitch 'invisible' e-car reserve battery

    Leccy Tech Text to tap the back-up 'tank'

    Indian car maker Reva will reveal two new all-electric vehicles at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. First up will be the NXR, which the firm has billed as a four-seater, three-door hatchback for families. The NXR will go into production during 2010, Reva promised. Reva’s keeping the NXR’s technical details close to its …

    Reg Hardware 8 Sep 13:05

  • Met: We shan't scrap Form 696

    Red-tape-tastic risk form now racist-undertone-free

    The Metropolitan Police is congratulating itself for removing a question from Form 696, the controversial initiative "risk assessment" that allows London police to demand information from promoters. The police have also dropped the requirement that every performer and musician provide a phone number 14 days in advance of every …

    Policing 8 Sep 13:15

  • Apple yanks C64 emulator from App Store

    BASIC misunderstanding

    Many Register readers seeking the Commodore 64 emulator application for the iPhone, which finally made it to Apple's App Store yesterday, were disappointed not to be able to find it. Here's why: Apple pulled it. Apple originally rejected the emulator, called simply C64, some months ago. Developer Manomio appealed against the …

    Reg Hardware 8 Sep 13:27

  • Colt Telecom cable cut mystery

    Updated: Can't read this? You're on Colt then

    Colt Telecom customers might be finding themselves without internet access today after an undersea cable was cut. A spokeswoman was unable to give us any details beyond admitting there "were some issues". But Register readers have been told that a severed undersea cable running between the UK and mainland Europe is the cause …

    Data Networking 8 Sep 13:28

  • Italian Army gets medi-telemetry earrings

    DSEi 'Stop crying, Massimo. The system says you're fine'

    A well-known Italian hi-tech firm says it has just delivered a trial batch of datalink earrings to the Italian army, intended to relay vital-signs telemetry from troops in combat back to the command post in the style of the movie Aliens. Aero Sekur, perhaps best known to Reg readers as the firm behind the Italian individual …

    Biology 8 Sep 13:49

  • Post-Vista Windows flaw creates Blue Screen risk

    BSOD it

    Miscreants have created an exploit capable of crashing Windows boxes and triggering the infamous Blue Screen of Death. The attack relies on exploiting an unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft's implementation of SMB2 (Server Message Block), a network protocol involved in the sharing of files and printers on a network. Windows …

    Operating Systems 8 Sep 14:45

  • South Korea inks $40m deal with Cray

    Future boxes predict future weather

    Supercomputer maker Cray has kicked off the race to the end of the third quarter by landing a $40m contract to supply the Korea Meteorological Administration in South Korea with a next-generation parallel super that will eventually grow to 600 teraflops of raw number-crunching power. KMA is currently a Cray customer and has a …

    Servers 8 Sep 14:51

  • Novell fannies about with Open Enterprise Server 2

    SP2 Pubic Beta is go

    Yes, it's childish, but we don't care. Here's something tasty for all of you using Novell's OES2: Crikey. This is doubtless one of Novell's "Actionable Strategies" leveraged through its "ecosystem of high-impact partnerships", as the company's website indelicately puts it. Good show. ® Bootnote Novell have been on the …

    Bootnotes 8 Sep 15:43

  • IBM reaffirms bright profit picture

    Sam Palmisano has to wear shades

    IBM is making the rounds of institutional investors in the next few weeks to make the case why its stock is undervalued, and has posted a supplemental 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this morning reaffirming its revenue and profit guidance for 2009 and 2010. You can read the presentation that Big Blue's …

    Financial News 8 Sep 15:45

  • Super-soldier exoskeletons ready for troop tests in 2010

    DSEi Reg interviews suited-up inventor. Very politely

    Some days, the world of military whizz-tech can get to be a bit humdrum. Awesome as missiles, robots etc. are, they can sometimes pall. But today is no such day: today we on the Reg military whizz-tech desk have been interviewing the inventor of an actual, working powered exoskeleton - in his suit, powered up, with hundreds of …

    Science 8 Sep 16:14

  • ATIC ponies up $3.9bn to buy Chartered

    Crunch time in the chip biz

    First AMD's foundry biz, and now Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing. Who will be next? The Emirate of Abu Dhabi has lots of money, lots of sand, and lots of hydrocarbons that can presumably be made into nanotubes and other future computing technology when oil becomes scarce enough that carbon computing might be …

    Financial News 8 Sep 18:07

  • Microsoft pulls Windows 7 balloons from Euro 'launch parties'

    It's more fun in America

    Microsoft's mischievous marketing mavens are at it again, this time Photoshopping some of the fun out of its upcoming Windows 7 faux launch parties. As we reported last Friday, Redmond is sponsoring global launch parties for its upcoming operating system, set for release in late October. To enhance the festivities, they'll …

    Odds and Sods 8 Sep 18:09

  • Adobe and Oracle postpone quarterly patches

    Schtop! This security update isn't ready yet

    Adobe and Oracle are both planning to delay their quarterly patch releases, albeit for different reasons. Oracle has pushed back its autumn security updates a week from 13 October until 20 October to avoid a clash with its OpenWorld 2009 conference, which runs from 11-15 October. It didn't want administrators to have to choose …

    Enterprise Security 8 Sep 19:51

  • Troll blockers take Microsoft SGI patents

    Open-source defenders jump in

    Microsoft has placed a clutch of Silicon Graphics patents in the hands of those trying to defend Linux and open-source against trolls. The Open Invention Network (OIN) has taken ownership of 22 patents covering operating systems, desktop, and browsers applications, after they were bought from Microsoft by middleman Allied …

    Software 8 Sep 20:24

  • Byrne's naked shorting crusade outs Yahoo! security vuln

    From Wikimadness to cross-site scripting

    Patrick Byrne's unrelenting crusade against naked short selling has uncovered a gaping security hole in Yahoo!'s ever-popular message boards. Yahoo! has now patched the cross-site scripting bug - which allowed miscreants to snatch Yahoo! IDs, cookies, and IP addresses from users merely searching the message boards - but not …

    Security 8 Sep 20:30

  • What US Homeland Security collects about you

    Inside your terrorist score

    Any time a person crosses the US border, the Department of Homeland Security assigns travelers with a "risk assessment" score to divine their likelihood of any involvement with a terrorist cell or criminal activity. That score is calculated by feeding a large volume of personal information into an automated system (rather …

    Security 8 Sep 20:43

  • Lynnfield mobos on the march

    Core i7 & i5, meet P55 & LGA 1156

    Now that Intel's Lynnfield chips have been officially released, motherboard makers are rushing their consumer and enthusiast boards into the eager hands of waiting customers. Although sample quantities of the boards have been available for some time - along with sample Core i7 and Core i5 Lynnfield chips - today marks the …

    PCs & Chips 8 Sep 20:54

  • Website exposes sensitive details on military personnel

    Required by law

    Programming errors on a website that helps commuters carpool to work are exposing sensitive information of workers for hundreds of employers in Southern California, including at least one military installation. The bugs, discovered last month on RideMatch.info, allow hackers access to a variety of personal information, …

    Security 8 Sep 21:11

  • eBay flies to Sun for data center head

    The Oracle skedaddle

    After losing its senior director of data center services and strategy to Steve Jobs and Apple, eBay has grabbed a replacement from Sun. Today, the outline auction house announced the hiring of Sun veteran Dean Nelson as its senior director of global data center strategy, architecture, and operations. The title has changed a …

    Business 8 Sep 22:52

  • NASA panel: Human spaceflight in 'unsustainable trajectory'

    Needs $3bn more for viable exploration program

    NASA's human spaceflight program appears headed on an "unsustainable trajectory" under its current budget, according to a committee charged with reviewing the US space program for the Obama administration. While NASA has big plans to retire the Shuttle Program in 2011, de-orbit the ISS in 2016, and begin a fresh round of lunar …

    Space 8 Sep 23:49